Against All Odds
by WeskerProject78
Summary: When a normal day at school changes into apocolyptic conditions, will Dib and Zim be able to get over their differences to save the ones they care about from destruction? ZADR, Membrane x OC


**Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or any of its characters. I only own Aya and this plot. **

**A/N: I recently have fallen back into watching Invader Zim and the other night I got the idea for this story. I know the characters are rather OOC but I assure you that they will fall back into more normal mannerisms as the plot progresses. I hope that you enjoy it!**

**Warnings: ZADR, Blood, Gore, Membrane X OC and Sexuality**

Against All Odds

Chapter One

The classroom was abnormally silent as Dib entered and moved to take his seat. It wasn't until after he had gotten himself situated that he became aware of why everyone was so quiet and for once not mocking his existence. Standing at the front of the room as Mrs. Bitters wrote her name on the board, was what was possibly the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen. She was thin and well muscled, an obvious sign that she was active. Her hair was jet black and her eyes were a lovely emerald green that contrasted nicely with her pale skin. A small smile hung on her lips as she sized up everyone in the class. Dib watched as her eyes rested on Zim for a moment longer than everyone else before continuing their sweep of the room.

"Tell the class who you are and then take your seat. It doesn't matter since we're all doomed anyway." Mrs. Bitters crooned in her usual tone.

The girl brightened, obviously undeterred by the unusual ways of the teacher. "My name is Aya Karei. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She purred, her voice sweet as honey. Aya looked around for a moment before deciding that the empty seat next to Dib would suit her needs and she sat down.

Dib didn't know what he felt more surprised about; the fact that she decided to sit next to him or the fact that besides noting that she was pretty, he felt no other attraction to her. The thought startled him. He had never noticed before how little he actually cared for the females of his species. The only person he had been in real contact with over the past five years had been Zim. 'Maybe a good fight with Zim will put my mind back into the proper place.' He thought, not even wanting to consider the implications his mind was trying to throw at him.

He looked over at the alien across the room, noticing not for the first time that his features were actually pleasant to look at. The green skin, the red eyes he knew were hidden beneath the contacts, the antennae that were obscured by the wig. He had even grown a bit taller, even though he was still shorter than the average male on Earth. All of it was rather charming on the Invader. In the five years that Zim had been on Earth, his plans for world domination were becoming less and less frequent. It had been months since the last attempt and it had seemed that even then, his heart wasn't in it.

Zim turned around, feeling the gaze from the boy he had been fighting since his arrival. The boy's eyes were glazed over as he stared. Dib was obviously lost in his own thoughts and probably hadn't even registered that Zim had moved. "Dib-stink! How dare you look at the amazing glory that is ZIM!" He cried, uncaring of how none of the students even recognized his outburst except for the new girl.

Startled out of his reverie, Dib jumped and blushed. He hadn't meant to get caught staring at the alien boy. 'Well if he wasn't so cute then I wouldn't…WHOA! Wait a minute! Did I just say that he was cute? I must be sick! That's it! I must be sick to be having those kinds of thoughts about him!' He thought, scrambling for an answer inside his mind. He was quickly lost inside his head again and completely forgot the other boy's outburst.

Mrs. Bitters hissed and in one of her obscenely fast motions appeared in front of Dib. "Today you are going to start a new project. You will be observing the habits of a particular species and comparing them to our own. I have the assignments on the board but seeing as we now have a new student; other arrangements will have to be made for one group. Dib, Zim, since you two still can't seem to get along you will be working with Aya on this project. You will be the only group of three so consider yourselves even more doomed than the rest of the class. Look at the paper in the front of the room for your assigned animal." With another hiss the old woman disappeared into the shadows.

Walking around the lunch room, Dib struggled to find Gaz anywhere among the many High Skool students lounging about. "The one day I actually come to lunch and she's not here." He groaned, knowing that his only alternative was to eat lunch with Zim. Making his way to the table, he tried to ignore the fierce glare that the alien boy was giving him. "All of the other tables are full Zim. I have no choice but to sit here." He sat down and immediately pushed his tray away forward. His aching head prevented him from even attempting to eat the sorry excuse for food the cafeteria offered. Resting his head on the table, he relished in the cool feeling the plastic gave.

"What's wrong with you, Dib-worm? Finally succumbed to the might of Zim?" The green skinned boy asked, an obvious smirk in his voice.

Dib groaned, feeling the pounding in his head intensify. "I have a headache Zim so please be quiet. I'm hardly in the mood to deal with you today." His headache had begun in the middle of his psychology class and had only served to cause him suffering for the rest of the morning.

Zim cocked his head, having a slight bit of trouble understanding what the human was telling him. It wasn't a normal occurrence for an Irken to get sick so the thought was foreign to him. "Is this a deadly disease?" The alien asked, cackling at the thought of the trench coat clad boy dying.

"Not in the slightest Zim. It is a completely natural pain for a human to have when they have to spend the day dealing with idiots." The boy sporting the scythe lock replied. He hugged his trench coat closer to his frame, feeling suddenly cold.

Tapping his fingers on the table, Zim contemplated the information he had been given. 'Worm babies have grown weaker since my arrival. Such a small amount of pain and they crumble.' He thought, cocking his head at the human's strange actions.

"What do you wanna do for our project?" Dib murmured, briefly flashing his eyes up toward the other male. "Since we have wolves we could go to the zoo and watch that pack." He offered, knowing that he wasn't going to let a childhood rival make him fail a class. A soft gasp was wrenched from his lips as his previous movement caused his head to spin slightly.

Giving a confused glance to the boy across from him, Zim only nodded. "Yes, visiting your Earth animal prison should prove most useful." It wasn't often that they were forced to work in pairs and working with the large headed human made the entire operation easier. "Should the female be informed?" He asked, gesturing across the room to the girl who was reading at a nearby table.

"Mhmm." Dib confirmed, not willing to move in fear of facing the onslaught of dizziness again. "She's new so cut her some slack Zim. She doesn't need your shit on her first day." The words would have been harsh had his voice not sounded so tired.

Rolling his eyes, Zim rose and made his way over to the table that Aya was seated at. "Female worm baby, your presence is required for we are discussing that which will decide our grades!" The green skinned boy cried, nearly standing on the table in his usual manner.

Aya looked up at him, her eyes widened in mild surprise. "Are you talking about the group project?" She asked, already gathering her things to join them. "I have a ton of books on wolves if they would be of any use to us." The raven haired girl stated, smiling sweetly. She glanced around, noting with mild curiosity that Dib seemed to be sick. "Is he alright? He looks like he could benefit from a trip to the nurses office."

There was clear malice in Zim's eyes as he realized just how friendly the new girl was. "Your books could prove helpful." He responded listlessly, leading her back to the table. Adjusting his wig, Zim took the seat next to Dib. The boy, while being a general pain in the ass during their younger years, was a better companion than the female. "He complained of head pains. The human doctor is not needed."

Blinking slowly, Dib looked at the alien that had appeared next to him. "You're too close Zim." He muttered sleepily, knowing full well that he would be unable to take his eyes off of the older male. 'Am I a xenophile? Is that why I'm feeling this way? It's so strange how I've never noticed before now…'

Zim chose to ignore the comment, feeling that retaliation would get them nowhere in the presence of another person. "Dib-worm, will your parental unit be opposed to retreating to your home for this project?" He absently played with the scythe lock since the other boy seemed too preoccupied to care.

"Dad won't care. He probably won't even be home." Dib closed his eyes; the feeling of having his hair played with was calming his nerves. 'He shouldn't even be touching me. I should make him stop…' The thought disappeared as quickly as it came as the gentle touches became more soothing. He allowed his body to relax completely into the touches, not having the strength to fight the urge to sleep any longer.

With a start Dib jolted up, his entire body protesting the motion. Looking around, he was surprised to find that instead of the lunchroom; he was in his own bedroom. "Now how did I get here?" He asked aloud, shaking his head as he tried to clear his thoughts.

"Humans sleep for a long time. This is why it shall be so easy to conquer your pathetic race." A voice rang out from next to him. Dib jumped, not having realized that there was anyone in the room with him.

"Zim! What the hell are you doing here?" The black haired boy shrieked scrambling backward until his back hit the wall.

Rolling his false eyes in annoyance, Zim flicked Dib's forehead. "Your head problem left you unable to function. It would have been a good time to examine that pathetic worm body of yours but it's too easy if you aren't able to fight back." The usual smirk reappeared as the Irken boy settled himself more comfortably on the chair. In the time since his arrival in the house, he had made himself quite at home. His school books littered the floor and his wig sat on the desk. The chair on which he was perched had been stolen from the desk and he had flipped it around so that he was straddling the soft leather. His antennae flicked lightly, reminiscent of a cat's tail when content.

Dib was having a great deal of trouble not staring at the other inhabitant of the room. 'This day has to have been the worst day of my life.' He internally groaned. 'I realized that I'm in love with an alien. I managed yet again to get a headache in class. And worst of all it seems that he had to carry me home!' Coughing lightly as his face heated up, Dib averted his eyes. "So…what time is it anyway?" He tried to find his clock but remembered after a moment that he had thrown it against the wall that very morning.

"It is well past your hour of six Dib-human. Your parental unit is preparing an assortment of Earth food." Zim looked mildly disturbed for a moment before continuing. "The new female is assisting him. I hoped she would explode from the stupidity that formed on her face when she saw him. Is your parental unit of importance to your useless meat sack race? She was curious of some new creation he was planning." Zim offered as best he could without letting his thoughts of destruction for the happy girl distract him. "She seemed interested enough to repeatedly invade his space."

Shoving a hand against his mouth, the younger teen burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. He knew from experience what had just been described. Barely able to suppress his amusement, Dib tried to explain. "S-she's got a c-crush on him! I can't b-believe it!" He calmed for a moment before the laughter bubbled up again.

Looking confused, Zim waited in irritation for the human to elaborate. "What do you mean by 'crush', Dib-thing? Does she want to destroy his body with some kind of heavy object?" While the idea was appealing to him, he doubted that the picture in his mind was anything like the actual definition of the phrase.

Dib shook his head for a moment, tears threatening to escape his closed eyes. When he finally had himself back under control, he addressed the other boy. "Not at all Zim. In fact it's quite the opposite. She _wants _him. As in, she would take any opportunity to get into his pants if you know what I mean." He added with a wink and a grin.

It took all of fifteen seconds for the explanation to start making sense in Zim's mind. "You mean she would mate with that Earth creature?" He asked, thinking back over various things that he had heard and learned about during his time on the planet. "She is too young for him by your society's standards, isn't she?" He remembered hearing strange cases of human adults having relations with children and how there was a steep penalty for such an act.

"She's several years too young for him but he's the world's greatest scientist so I doubt that the general public would care much if they found he was sleeping with a teenage girl." Dib explained, feeling more and more like the universe was conspiring against him. "It would explain why she was so friendly with me this morning when she arrived." He thought aloud, running a hand through his hair.

One eye narrowed more than the other as Zim gave the human a strange look. "Your species is so unnatural Dib-creature. You punish your own kind for having a relationship with someone they care about because of age. Irken's don't care about age or gender. We are a warring race and having a mate, no matter the age, is a simple affair." He mulled over all of the abnormal things humans did in striving to become part of the crowd. "It makes no sense to waste so much time waiting for your kind to grow to a certain age before they can procreate. You have such short lives as it is that it hardly seems normal to wait for such a period of time." Zim ranted, not liking the things he was hearing.

He was slightly taken aback as to how strongly the green male felt on the subject. "It's part of human nature. We don't mature as quickly so the government devised ways to protect the children. It's never been particularly useful and there are ways around it but it's mainly just a thorn in everyone's side." There was an obvious amount of ill contempt in his voice as Dib thought of how many of his own species treated him and anything else that was different than the status quo.

Zim stared at the blue wall behind Dib's head for a moment, realizing not for the first time that it was getting increasingly easy to talk to the tall human. "To coddle them like your kind does makes them weak from the beginning. As an Irken I was trained to be an invader from a very young age. We do not have stupid rules keeping our young from doing what comes naturally to them." At that moment he felt very sorry for the girl trying to put on the charm for the scientist. It would be hell for them both if she were to find success in her endeavor.

"I agree with you. In the start of our lives we may require some care but after that we start learning from our mistakes. If we aren't allowed to learn, we can't grow as a whole." Dib remarked, feeling that he would have been better off being born into the Irken society.

A small, fond smile appeared on Zim's face as he thought of how he had been raised by an unfeeling piece of metal. "Learning from your mistakes? It must kill your pride to accomplish that. THE AMAZING ZIM WOULD NEVER NEED SOMETHING AS FOOLISH AS THAT!" He yelled, snapping back to his usual persona.

Chuckling, Dib shook his head and moved to get up. As soon as he was standing he realized what a bad idea it had been. The room spun wildly and his legs felt like they had morphed into jelly. His legs buckled, sending him toppling to the floor. "M-maybe it wasn't such a good idea to move just yet…" He reasoned feeling unusually light headed.

Zim moved quickly to the dark haired boy's side. "It seems that this is more than just a mere 'headache'." He took the weak body before him and hoisted it into his arms, once again marveling at how light it was. 'Strange. Though I have been fighting this human since my arrival, I don't see any need to continue the struggle. Is this filthy planet even worth taking over at all?' He asked himself as he set Dib back on the bed.

Nodding carefully, the human boy closed his eyes. "I think I might have the flu or something." He groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "That would be far worse than the headache." He added, feeling woozy.

"Shall I bring up your parental unit?" Asked the crimson eyed boy, feeling unusually concerned. It wasn't a feeling he wanted to harbor for the bedridden teen yet there was no amount of mental distractions that could stop him from reacting the way he did.

"That would be a good idea." Dib whispered tiredly. The sudden activity had exhausted him more than he had anticipated. 'This is the cherry on top of this shitty day.' He thought, grimacing as his stomach did an unexpected flip. "Please hurry!" He put his hands to his stomach as the urge to purge himself of the contents of his stomach grew more intense.

Quickly grabbing his wig and reapplying it, he left the room. Zim made his way to the kitchen, almost getting distracted by the prospect of going into the scientist's lab. The room was silent. "Parent of the Dib, you are needed now-" He froze, looking on with surprise at the two dark haired individuals who were making out on a stool. The older Membrane had his arms around the young girl, his hands getting progressively lower. Aya was situated on his lap, her legs straddling his thighs and her hands in his hair. Zim coughed loudly, trying to get their attention. "Your son is ill. He could require immediate medical care." He ground out, not wanting to witness any more of the human mating ritual than he already had.

The two quickly broke apart, each one sporting a blush. "My son is ill you say?" Professor Membrane questioned, looking forlornly at the girl now standing at his side. "I'll go look right away." He rose from his seat and quickly walked to the appropriate bedroom. A frown crossed his face as he took in the pitiful sight before him. Dib was curled up in a ball on the bed, the thin blue blanket he had barely even covering his legs. His eyes were squeezed shut and his breathing was quite shallow. "Dib? How are you feeling?" He sat down on the edge of the bed, smoothing down his son's hair. He froze for a moment as he recognized the tell tale signs of a fever. "Aya, would you go into the bathroom and get the thermometer from the cabinet?" He asked, knowing the girl had followed him upstairs.

"What's wrong with the Dib?" Zim looked on, rather curious as to how the human's condition had worsened so rapidly.

Glancing at the boy with the 'skin condition', Membrane frowned even more. "It seems that he has contracted a rather nasty case of the flu. He must have been exposed to it at school sometime recently."

Having never had a human illness, the alien's curiosity was piqued. "What is going to happen to him?" Zim wondered, cocking his head.

"If we don't bring his fever down, there is the possibility that he could die." The scientist explained, concern making his voice strained. "It's common for most people to get but it's hard to cure. We have vaccines for it but they don't always prevent someone from getting the flu. Haven't you ever had the flu before?" The man sporting the longer scythe lock looked at Zim questioningly.

"The amazing body that is Zim's doesn't get sick!" He cried, standing up on the chair to make sure his proclamation was heard.

A soft giggle from behind them brought their attention to rest on the raven haired female that had reentered the room without their noticing. She handed the professor the thermometer, uncertain if she should stay or not.

"Ah, thank you Aya." Membrane nodded to her and placed the aforementioned item in his son's ear. "Thirty nine degrees Celsius…that's so high…" He murmured, taking out his cell phone and dialing the number for his secretary. "Hello Mark. I need you to clear my schedule for the rest of the week. My son is very ill." He argued back and forth with the man for a few minutes before he finally got the desired response. "Thank you. I'll be in touch." The goggle wearing man sighed, tucking his phone back into his lab coat pocket. He returned to the earlier statement Zim had made. "You've never been sick? It would be highly dangerous for you to get sick now then. By the time most children are your age they have built up some kind of immunity to these types of illnesses. Even something like the chicken pox, which is harmless to a child, would be nearly deadly to you now."

Zim blanched, his three fingered hands clutching at his Irken clothing tightly. He looked at Dib, wondering how many times the boy had been sick in the course of his life. 'I can't believe this. The Tallest betrayed me and I thought it was all over but now…could I learn to care for this filthy human?' He asked himself, wondering if he could find a new reason to fight in the boy who lay prone on the bed.

"Dad? What's going on?" A small, weak voice came from the direction of the bed.

Professor Membrane looked at his progeny, his hand curling around the smaller shoulder in a sign of comfort. "You seem to have a nasty bought of the flu. I don't want you moving around too much."

"I was afraid of that." Dib responded, nuzzling his pillow. "I haven't felt very good since this morning. Even though that nap earlier did make me feel better for a little while." He turned slightly toward Zim, a look that was clearly thanking the green boy on his face.

Looking back and forth between the two guests, the scientist came to a decision. "Would you two like to eh…what's it called…oh right! Would you like to spend the night here? It's been raining quite hard for the past hour or so." He immediately turned his attention back to the child on the bed, feeling guilty that there wasn't anything he could do to help.

A low his escaped Zim's lips at the thought of rain. "Yes parental unit of the Dib. It would be quite pleasing not to venture out into such bad weather." He took a moment to look out the window, his expression quickly changing into a scowl at the heavy shower of liquid pouring from the sky.

The look on Aya's face was one of pleasure and adoration. "I'd love to professor! It would be quite the experience!" She shouted, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement.

The adult male only nodded, distracted by how much he realized he didn't know about his children. "Where is Gaz? Shouldn't she be home by now?" Membrane asked, looking at Zim with the thought that the green child might have heard her come home.

"She returned shortly after our arrival. Probably plotting our DOOM as we speak!" The Irken invader yelled with amusement.

Membrane rose from the bed with a rather distraught look on his face. "I'm going to speak with her. Aya would you be able to finish up dinner?" Without even waiting for an answer, he left the room. The human girl followed him quickly out and suddenly it was just Dib and Zim alone again.

Zim took the spot previously occupied by the lab coat clad male and sighed. "Dib-thing, you must return to full health soon. We have many things that we must discuss." Zim whispered, stroking Dib's hair with a look of slight affection on his face. 'Perhaps we could make a truce. I cannot go on fighting without a reason.'

With a look of mild curiosity, Dib faced the disguised alien. "You aren't acting like yourself Zim. Is there something you want to talk about now? I can still function with a fever you know." He croaked, his hand coming up to gently stroke Zim's cheek.

Taking a deep breath, Zim prepared himself for what he was about to say. He was startled for a moment by the hand that came out and touched him. His hidden crimson eyes locked with Dib's honey colored orbs and he felt for a brief moment that everything would be okay. "It's a rather long story. So prepare yourself human." He adjusted himself into a more comfortable position before beginning to speak. "Two years ago, I was ready to take over your planet with a plan that I'm certain would have succeeded. I only needed the conformation from my Tallest and I would have taken over the Earth completely within six months. However, I wasn't aware of one fact. A fact that I'm sure you would have enjoyed several years back." Zim paused, trying to gather his courage and tell the human the rest of his story. "My Tallest had lied to me. I wasn't here on any kind of invasion mission. They were just trying to get me out of the way so that the real invaders could work on a plan known as Impending Doom Two. I ruined the first Impending Doom plan and at the time I was too naïve to know that I had done anything wrong. They sent me here and it was with the intention that I was never to return to Irk. This was nothing more than a ploy for them to get rid of me." He froze, the memories pushing him to the verge of tears.

A look of pure shock sat on Dib's face. 'This can't be true can it? I mean, he's been trying to take over the Earth for years. Surely he would have known that his own leaders didn't want him…but he looks so defeated. How could something like this happen?' The thoughts flew through his mind and before he even had a chance to comprehend what he was doing, he had Zim in a tight hug. "I'm so sorry Zim. I know it was your goal to destroy the planet and I should be happy that you can't but it should never have been like this."

"They never wanted anything like the events of Impending Doom to happen again. I almost destroyed the entire armada. I'm nothing more than a failure. A waste of space on this planet that I have been marooned on." Zim allowed the boy to hold him, not wanting to feel the pain of being alone among a species so different from his own.

"Oh Zim…I can't believe your own people would do that to you." He stroked the wig, startled for a moment when it came off in his hand. Shrugging, he went back to trying to comfort the alien. He started to stroke the antennae, slightly amazed by their softness. He played with the base of the stalk, completely taken in by the appendage.

It took all of ten seconds for Zim to completely melt into the human's arms. A soft purr was wrenched from him as the comfort changed to something far more intimate to the Irken. He grabbed Dib's shirt and pulled himself closer, wanting more of the attention the boy was bestowing on him. 'That feels so amazing…' The thought had barely even left his mind before all coherency was stolen from him. The hand that had been gently playing began to stroke the tip of his antennae. Zim moaned, unable to keep himself quiet while the human played with him.

Dib was curious now. The motions he had started on the two stalks seemed to be having quite a different effect than he had anticipated. 'Wow, with all of those sounds he's making it almost seems like he's…oh hell! Did I just arouse him by touching these?' He almost stopped but his curiosity got the better of him. 'I wonder what would happen if I did this.' Taking the base of the antenna in his mouth, he sucked lightly. 'Heh, it's amazing how whenever I'm alone with Zim I start feeling better.' He thought to himself, not at all ashamed of what he was doing to the older alien.

The addition of the sucking almost threw Zim over the edge. The invader moved into Dib's lap, desperate for the human to give him more. "A-ah!" His hips moved of their own accord and he began dragging the sensitive organ between his legs along the other male's thigh.

Freezing, Dib realized just what was about to happen. 'Am I really about to have sex with Zim? Does he even know what's going on right now?' He asked himself, continuing the motions he had been performing. The alien was growing more and more desperate and to be honest so was Dib. After a moment he gave in to his desire and pressed his lips against Zim's in a chaste kiss.

The kiss was enough to momentarily snap Zim back to his senses. He shoved Dib back, his eyes flashing with anger. "I tell you that I am worthless and you try to MATE with me!" He cried, a wild snarl ripping out of his throat. One of his Pak legs shot out and pinned the human to the bed. "Do you even know what the acts you were performing mean to an Irken?" He growled, glaring at the boy he had at his mercy.

"Jeez Zim! It was supposed to be comforting! I didn't know you would get like that!" Dib shot back, completely unafraid even in his new position. He tried to adjust himself but with every movement, the metal limb dug deeper in his skin.

"That is among some of the most intimate things you do with your partner! It is not something you just do for fun Dib!" To say Zim was distraught would be an understatement. 'This can't be happening! I did not just almost mate with that human!' He looked down again when he felt the body beneath him trembling. 'Good. Fear might keep you from repeating this.' He thought just before reality came crashing back into the picture. Dib's eyes were squeezed tightly shut and his whole body was shaking as though he couldn't get warm. His breathing was ragged and a dark red stain was forming around the pointed tip of the Pak leg. Zim quickly retracted the limb, fear seeping into his own mind as it occurred to him that he was attacking a boy who was very sick. "Dib?" He waited a moment, willing the human to open his eyes. "Dib!" He shrieked, realizing that something was very wrong with his companion.

With shaking hands Zim pulled up the black haired boy's shirt to observe the wound he had inflicted. The wound itself wasn't that bad, nothing more than a small gash but it was the effect that it could have on the sick human that had the alien in a state of distress. He pressed a small piece of gauze against it that he pulled from his Pak. It took a few minutes for the bleeding to stop before Zim was able to tape up the wound. "I'm sorry Dib-human. I didn't mean to hurt you." He murmured, pulling the thin blanket up and covering the other male with it. When the shivering didn't stop he had to sit back and consider his options. 'I could lay with him and hope that his parental unit doesn't return before he awakens…or I could leave him.' With a soft sigh, Zim grabbed his wig and pulled it on before he eased his body down next to the softer one beside him. He wrapped his arms around Dib, feeling exhaustion overtake him as he slowly drifted off to sleep next to the weakened teen.

It was to the sound of his father cooing that Dib awoke. "Hmm…what?" He groaned, trying to sit up. That was when he felt the other body next to him. His eyes shot open and he stared in shock at the green skinned alien that was curled up against him. The memories of just before he had lost consciousness came rushing back to him. 'Why, if he was so pissed, is he curled up like we actually finished what we started?' He put the thought to the side as he turned his attention back to the older Membrane. The man's expression was beyond amused.

"Son, is there something you want to tell me?" The professor asked; chuckling as Zim clung tighter to the younger boy. Due to the amount of people he met on a regular basis, the scientist was incredibly open minded and the thought of his son engaging in sexual activities with another male was a thought that neither surprised or bothered him. Though the paranormal studies still hit a sore spot with him.

Dib shook his head furiously, a blush staining his cheeks. "N-no! This isn't what it looks like!" Biting his lip, he tried to will away the images of Zim rubbing against him with little success. 'Why oh why did I have to go and fall in love with the alien?' He sighed, playing with a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. 'What am I supposed to do about this? It's obvious that Zim is completely against the idea.'

Seeing the look of sadness cross his son's face, the oldest member of the household decided to change the subject. "I spoke with Gaz earlier. She was under the impression that you two would kill each other if allowed in the same room alone. It seems she was very much mistaken. At any rate, it's almost midnight but if you would like you could still have some dinner. We made salad and steak if you want it." His mind wandered slightly to the attractive female he had waiting for him back in his own bedroom. She was the most intelligent woman he had come across since the death of his wife. His train of thought was broken by a very loud grumble. He looked toward his son and grinned. "Wake up your friend and go get yourselves something to eat." Membrane turned around and left the room without another word.

It was stepping onto dangerous ground trying to wake the alien. Zim's body was wrapped almost entirely around Dib and one small slip up could have the metal limbs embedded in his flesh again. Gathering his nerves, Dib poked the sleeping Irken. When that didn't have the desired effect, he shook the other; first lightly and then roughly. After a few tense moments, the contact covered eyes blinked slowly open. He smiled nervously, waiting for the retaliation he had come to expect from the other male.

Blinking furiously at the blurriness that overtook his vision, Zim allowed himself to wake up. 'Why is it so warm?' He pondered, nuzzling closer to the source of heat. He looked up and found himself face to face with the worm baby he had injured. "Dib-thing? I'm surprised that you're awake." He murmured, sitting up and throwing a look of mild confusion toward the human. His look was quickly followed by one of remorse. "How are you feeling?" Zim asked, pressing a hand lightly against the other male's chest.

"A little better." Dib replied smoothly, smiling at the boy sharing his bed. "You didn't hurt me that badly so stop worrying about it." In slow, gentle movements he eased himself off the bed, allowing himself to become steady before turning to look at Zim. "Are you hungry? They left some dinner for us downstairs."

Suddenly amused, Zim chuckled. "I don't need to eat nearly as often as you meat sacks do. The Irken Empire is superior to all!" His voice was tinged with sadness even though his pride held him back from accepting the comfort he knew the boy would gladly give him again.

'It must be so hard for him to accept that no one from his own planet wants him back.' Dib thought, a frown slipping onto his face. The boy with the scythe lock made a move to embrace the alien but was stopped short by the hand that was suddenly thrust out to stop him. "Zim? I know how it feels to have your own species shun you. There's no reason you should suffer alone." Taking a deep breath, Dib shot out his hand. "I would like to call a truce. Would that be acceptable?" The question was honest since they hadn't had a real battle for quite awhile.

It took a moment but for the first time since arriving on the planet, Zim actually looked at Dib. He saw that the boy had grown up a lot from the obsessive child he had been. His hair was a bit longer than it used to be and the scythe lock had several new kinks in it, making him appear more like his father. The human even had a new adornment on his ear that made Zim pause for a minute. It was shiny and dangled down from a hole. 'Strange. I never noticed that before.' He thought, letting down his guard in his state of curiosity. Dib's words hit hard, causing the alien to squeeze his eyes tightly shut. "You know nothing of what I am feeling, pathetic human." Thinking the idea over, he quickly had a decision. "I accept your truce. Don't expect things to change between us just because I'm no longer trying to kill you." He shook the offered appendage, grimacing slightly at how different it felt from his own.

Cocking his head, Dib grinned, happy to have finally made some headway with his childhood nemesis. "Do you want to go and get some dinner then?" He moved for the door, waiting for an answer before he would leave.

"Your filthy Earth food isn't good enough for Zim!" The green boy shouted, feeling a bit more like his old self. Grabbing the human by the arm, he dragged him to the kitchen. "Eat!" He yelled, pointing at the food on the table.

Slightly taken aback, Dib allowed himself to be pulled down into the kitchen. "What's gotten into you Zim?" Shooting the other male an unusual look, he sat down and pulled the warming cover off of the steak. Observing the food, a hand immediately shot up to Dib's face as he shoved the chair backwards and rushed to the bathroom. He proceeded to lose the contents of his stomach as he dropped to his knees over the toilet.

Concern flooded Zim's body, making his heart beat like it was going to burst out of his chest and his squeedly spooch to tie in knots. "Dib-thing?" He shouted, chasing after the boy with a panicked look on his face. Arriving in the bathroom, he was shocked to see that some kind of slimy substance being forcefully thrust from the frail body of the human. He rushed over, putting his hand on Dib's back and placing the other on the pale forehead.

Feeling the room tilt with every heave, Dib groaned. 'Shit. I feel like I'm gonna faint…' After he was done he collapsed, a pair of thin but strong arms wrapping around his frame before he could hit the floor. "Zim…I don't feel so hot…" His voice was barely a whisper but the Irken still caught the words.

"Is your parental unit required again?" There was an edge to his voice that Dib hadn't heard before. It sounded like the strange green alien was frightened. Quickly shifting the boy, Zim managed to lift him up with relative ease. With a grimace, he set about getting the slime covered human back into his bed.

Dib shook his head with a disoriented look on his face. "No…I'll be alright…not the first time I've been sick…" His voice was soft and tired and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He weakly clung to the Irken uniform adorning the other's body. "The flu…always has these kind of…symptoms…"

"Dib-stink, you are in need of medical attention. Your fluids were ejected from your body. Is a transfusion of some sort necessary?" Thinking back on everything that Zim had learned about the human race was hard. 'What a useless race. Not even carrying medical supplies on their person.' He thought, briefly wondering if his Pak had any supplies that would be useful to another species. He looked down at the hand that was clinging to him and a soft look entered his eyes. 'It's strange, yet I can't help caring for this human. We are the same. Even though he is a worthless meat sack.' Once he had the honey eyed male situated, he worked on cleaning up the mess on the boy's face.

"Ngn…so warm…" Dib muttered, feeling the last of his energy leave him as he fought to keep his eyes open. 'Maybe I'll just close my eyes for a few minutes…' Letting them slip closed, Dib immediately fell into a fitful dream.

_The field was covered in bodies. Hundreds of them, all soaked in blood and many were missing limbs. The darkness of the moonless night made it impossible for Dib to estimate how many of them there really were. "H-Hello? Is anyone there?" He called, moving carefully to avoid stepping on any of the bodies. A gun was strapped to his hip and he reached for it, uncertain what was waiting for him beyond his range of sight. _

_ A loud groan met his ears and he whipped around, gun cocked and pointing in the direction of the sound. Out from behind a nearby tree came a figure. "Who's there?" Dib called again, feeling his hands shaking from an unknown fear. The figure suddenly began sprinting toward him, quickly revealing its features. It was a corpse. The shock of the revelation dissipated almost as fast as it set in and the need to act took its place. Taking aim, Dib shot at the corpse. Hitting it in the chest several times had no effect and with a shaky breath, he shot for the head. Instantly the walking dead creature stopped, dropping to the ground and failing to rise again. _

_ "What the hell is going on here?" He asked himself, immediately realizing that he had to get as far away from the other corpses as possible. Picking up his pace, Dib raced out of the field. He could hear the tell tale groaning from behind him and the loud, unsteady footfalls of the pursuing creatures. "Shit!" There was no telling how many were following him so he simply opted to keep running until he could find some form of shelter. _

_ On and on he ran, finally making it back into town. The industrialized city could provide many useful hiding places if it wasn't already overrun by the dead. He noticed with horror appearing on his features, that the city was already taken. Buildings were burning and people were running through the streets in terror. Many of the people being pursued by legions of the undead. 'It's no use! I can't save all these people!' He shot off toward the one place he knew couldn't be conquered by humans. _

_ Zim's base came quickly into view, its odd coloring and almost normal décor easy to spot among the buildings. "Zim!" Dib shouted, running past the wildly firing lawn gnomes and began pounding on the door. "Zim please! Help me!" After several seconds of wild beating he started to panic. He was just about to turn around before a hand grabbed him and yanked him swiftly back through the door. Hearing the locks reset; Dib heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks Zim." He murmured, dropping to the ground in exhaustion. It was only when he looked up that he realized the severity of the situation. Standing, huddled by the couch was his father and sister. Sitting on the back on the couch was Aya, a pair of cat ears and a tail adorning her body. He jumped slightly as the alien's arms wrapped around him and a pair of lips found his ear. _

_ "Don't ever do that to me again." Zim growled, kissing him hard on the lips. Pulling away, he looked Dib up and down, checking for injuries. He pulled the human close, nuzzling his neck. "You can't do that again Dib-human. Those things….those zombies will kill you! I can't lose anything else!" With that he pounced his human, making sure that his affection got the point across._

'What happened? I feel so weak.' Dib slowly cracked his eyes open, squinting at the light that overtook his vision. A moment later he realized the blurriness wasn't leaving and he groped for his glasses. Several blobs that he took to be the other people in his house were moving around but without sight it was increasingly hard to identify them. He relaxed slightly as he felt his frames being adjusted onto his face. The first thing that greeted him was the sight of his father's lab coat. 'Did Zim get dad anyway?' He didn't have long to wonder as Membrane quickly noticed that he was conscious.

"Son, are you feeling any better? You were awfully fitful while you were sleeping." The elder member of the household fretted over the bed ridden boy, worry filling his every movement.

Scanning the room, Dib let his eyes rest on the non human that was so desperately trying to blend in with the scenery. Zim was hiding almost completely behind his desk, watching the scene with something akin to concern in his false blue orbs. "I had a strange dream. Nothing to worry about." While the words were easily said, it was much harder to shake the images from his mind. 'Zombies huh? I haven't even thought about the walking dead in awhile. I wonder what brought that on.' He smiled weakly at Membrane, not wanting to alert the man that anything was wrong.

"It was your little green friend that cleaned you up, you know. I wasn't aware that you had made such a good friend." Removing his goggles, Membrane turned and looked at Zim. "Would you turn on the news err Pim?" He knew the name was wrong but he was terrible with remembering even the names of his own children with his busy schedule. "I hope the lab isn't on fire again…" Pinching the bridge of his nose, he thought about how his assistants were fairly useless when it came to keeping things in order.

Glaring slightly at the slip up in his name, Zim moved around the desk and hit the power button on the television. Flipping through the channels, he found the one for the news station and turned up the volume.

Looking at the T.V. everyone in the room was instantly shocked. There was a scene of absolute horror playing out before them. A reporter stood, trembling, with her back to a chaotic image of town square. People were running left and right, screaming in terror as they were chased. Their pursuers, missing limbs and covered in blood, kept up the chase with speeds almost rivaling that of an athlete. "What you see behind me began early this morning after a crazed hospital patient bit a man that was walking his daughter to school. Since then, almost the entire city has been affected by this strange sickness. A report by a local doctor at the hospital informs us that these beings are…dead." The woman paused for a moment before continuing. "While that seems impossible, there is no other explanation for what our doctors are seeing. It appears that anyone that is bitten becomes just as crazed as the patient. We believe there might be some kind of epidemic making these people do these things but no answers have been presented as of yet." The woman looked around herself with a panicked expression and two gunmen at her side began shooting at several of the crazed victims that began sprinting toward her. They dropped like flies as the shots rang out. The scene switched back to the usual news room where various authorities were listing off things that people should do to protect themselves. "Don't leave your homes. Keep all doors and windows closed and don't let them see you! If they see you they will do everything they can to get to you and they won't stop until you are dead or like them." A man was frantically yelling into the camera. Everyone in the room looked at each other, knowing that something had gone horribly wrong since Dib had gotten sick.

Gaz and Aya shared a nervous glance. The two of them had come to an understanding as they were the only two girls in the house. "W-What's going on?" Gaz questioned, setting her Game Slave down as fear began to set in.

"I don't know. It's not normal. Look at them, they're dead! With that much blood loss it's not feasible that they are still moving!" Dawning realization formed on Membrane's face and he shot a quick look at his son. "Dib! Are these people behaving like zombies?" It was a frightening thought but they couldn't rule out anything that could prove useful to their survival. All thoughts of sickness and guests were the farthest thing from the scientists mind as he tried to remember where he kept the long range weapons.

Blinking slowly in shock, Dib looked around the room as though the answer to the madness would suddenly present itself. "Well…yes actually. Attacking people and only trying to eat them. Not having any other functions but the need to feed. Dropping when they get shot in the head but no other spot even harms them. It all screams zombie behavior but how would that have happened?" Glancing over at Zim, Dib was shocked to see that the alien was shaking and huddled against the wall. "Come here Zim." He whispered in soft tones.

Walking slowly, Zim approached the bed. When he was close enough he settled himself down in the corner and observed the sick human. "Explain to Zim what these zombies are of which you speak!"

Taking a deep breath, Dib organized his thoughts. "A zombie is a creature that was once a human. The first zombie can be created any number of ways but it's the ones that follow that cause problems. Once one of them has bitten someone, that person will go and bite someone else and within a matter of hours the entire country could be overrun with the damn things. The strangest thing is that they are all dead Zim. They are operating off of the basest need a human can have, the need to feed. Somehow their brains are stimulated to pursue that need and that need alone even though they are dead." A frown slipped onto his face. "I've expected that something like this would have the possibility of happening but the question is; how did it happen?"

A loud explosion caught everyone's attention and Dib rushed to the window to investigate. "Shit. Dad, get as many weapons as you can! Aya, Gaz, I need both of you to lock and window and door that leads outside! Zim, call Gir and tell him to put your base on lockdown! We aren't alone anymore!" He shouted, quickly going through everything the Swollen Eyeball network had taught him over the years. There was a hand on his shoulder and he jumped, looking at the owner of the black glove. "This isn't good Zim. We're stuck in the middle of the worst situation the world has ever seen."

TBC

**Okay, that is the conclusion of the first chapter of Against All Odds. I thought that it might be interesting to throw these characters into this type of situation and see what comes from it. I expect that the next chapter will be up in about a week or so. I also apologize to everyone who has been following my story for Cats the musical because my muse for that story was gone for quite awhile but I have a lot written down for it and the rest of that story should be uploaded fairly quickly. Please R&R, I'd love to know what you think! **


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